At restrictor plate racing speeds of over 190 mph? No, anything is dangerous at that speed. That’s why Carl Edwards flipping Keselowski was wrong, and Kyle’s revenge, because of the speed involved.

However, light contact when spinning someone out at a short track is pretty harmless, or at a lower speed at another track. Heck, Brian Vickers hit everything but the Pace Car at Martinsville but all he ended up with is a battered-looking car. Spinning someone out on purpose is going to be hard for some to comprehend, I can understand that, but it’s not helpful for the usual baseless remarks from certain people who don’t like NASCAR, have no interest in it and will occasionally make snide remarks.

Personally, I would need to watch any series consistently, then make a judgment on it. It’s no good me speaking about an incident in football, then make a sweeping generalisation about the sport – because I don’t have a clue about the subtleties of the sport. I’m speaking as a huge F1 fan, and a fan of European racing who only got a better understanding of NASCAR not so long ago.

I think his penalty was just, though I would have fined him for more than $50,000. His actions were unacceptable, and I had really hoped he’d gotten past this knee-jerk reaction to every incident, but that’s not the case.

I’m not going to delve too much into the NASCAR debate, because frankly most people who comment about it don’t regularly watch it, so there isn’t a lot of middle ground for a good, friendly debate. Contact is the norm for NASCAR, they’re stock cars and they race like that. Is it dangerous? Of course, but all racing is, and these cars are probably the safest in the business. Massa almost died driving in a straight line, sometimes your luck runs out, sometimes you go through Hell without a mark to show for it. That’s racing and we love it.

I hope I’m not sounding too contradictory, my stance is that bumping and banging is what makes NASCAR fun to watch, and that’s what the sport is about. Purposely wrecking someone is different, and there is a difference. This was even done under a caution, so there is no excuse. I think letting the drivers police themselves has led to some better racing, but as always there should be a governing body to step in for drastic situations. This was a drastic situation and NASCAR stepped in and parked him. I think most of us would agree that F1 could use a few less penalties. Not to the same level as NASCAR, obviously, they are different types of racing with different histories that must be respected, but a slight loosening of the reins might be beneficial.

Anyway, hopefully Busch calms down, but I also hope NASCAR brings down the hammer if he does something like that again.

Purposely wrecking someone is different, and there is a difference. This was even done under a caution, so there is no excuse. I think letting the drivers police themselves has led to some better racing, but as always there should be a governing body to step in for drastic situations.

I completely agree with that. When NASCAR brought in the ‘no bump-drafting in corners’ rule into restrictor plate racing, things got pretty boring. The drivers told NASCAR to trust them to race sensible, so they let them, and while things have got a bit hairy a couple of times they’ve managed pretty well with it. NASCAR drivers are professionals. They know what they’re doing and should be trusted to race as such. However, what Busch did completely crosses every conceivable line of what is acceptable.

I was impressed by James Hinchcliffe’s driving throughout 2011 in IndyCar.

My respect for him has increased after reading his recent comments on Twitter:

The more I think about it the more Kyle Busch makes me angry. Got off way too easy. He’s a repeat offender. Motorsport is dangerous enough without stunts like that. Should be banned for remainder of 2011 and on probation for all of 2012. I was a fan. Now I think he’s a jackbag.

Wow, go Hinch! Long-term I think he’ll be a tremendous ambassador for IndyCar. Smart and willing to speak his mind but always reasoned. I remember when Mark Webber made some thick comment about Indycar Hinch – who was still a Lights driver at the time – came back with some very accurate and mature words.

As for Busch, has anyone seen the ‘clean’ version of the crash footage – that is to say the video that has no commentary, just the voice of his spotter begging him to stop. I’ve not but I’ve heard it talked about, think it would be an interesting listen.

As a proud member of the racing community, Mars and the M&M’s brand strongly support the partnership we have with Joe Gibbs Racing and are committed to NASCAR. Yet, Kyle’s recent actions are unacceptable and do not reflect the values of Mars, While we do not condone Kyle’s recent actions, we do believe that he has shown remorse and has expressed a desire to change. We believe our decision will have a positive impact on Kyle and will help him return next season ready to win.

However they have said they will resume sponsoring him in 2012, which makes this nothing more than a cynical and hypocritical gesture. He doesn’t “reflect their values”, but give it eight weeks and apparently all will be well again.

It’s the least this idiot deserves. I know Kyle Busch (and to a lesser extent, his brother) has his fans, but I know he’s also got a lot of detractors (I can’t think of an apt Formula 1 analogy – nobody in the sport seems to have the same level of criticism). I couldn’t really understand why until now.

M&M’s are continuing to sponsor Kyle Busch and the 18 car for 2011, but will only a minority sponsor. You’ll still see M&M’s logos on the car. The reason why it’s significant is that in NASCAR, the primary sponsor gets naming of a car i.e. “the M&M’s car”, the “Shell/Penzoil car” etc. That would like calling a McLaren F1 car the “Vodafone car” – nobody ever would. But, M&M’s are not pulling sponsorship totally.

Mars North America has probably decided that Kyle Busch is too much of an asset to have. He’s won so many races for JGR and when M&M’s is a primary sponsor, that the exposure is too great to ignore. Yes, that publicity goes the other way in situations like last weekend – but for the most part it’s positive. As Mars should have done, they’ve considered the whole picture of sponsoring Kyle rather than only focusing on the incident. To win 24 Cup Series wins at his age hasn’t been done by many other drivers, and his talent his unbelievable. Not to mention his record-breaking wins in the Nationwide Series.

The way he restarts after cautions is an art, in all three national series. There is no need for people to call him a “jackbag”. I seriously doubt that Hinchcliffe was ever a fan of Kyle Busch, what an overused cliché, “I was a fan but now I’m not”. Yeah right.

What Busch did last weekend was disgusting, and Mars have made the right decision imo. They are showing him that they can drop primary sponsorship in a heartbeat, and that determines Kyle driving the car. When Kevin Harvick was banned from a race, his primary sponsor didn’t walk away – so people shouldn’t be surprised at this. Joe Gibbs, the owner of Kyle’s car has experienced a trouble-prone but brilliant driver before, Tony Stewart, and Tony’s success proved that it was worth sticking with him. Kyle is a regular race winner and gets great results, but Joe only knows too well how to judge an asset against a liability.